Friday, February 11, 2011

I tap democracynow.org into my computer and i am face to face with the streets in Cairo. Thousands upon thousands of people marching to the rhythms of change, to the rhythms of solidiarity and hope. My heart soars to see the People of Egypt moving together expressing, demanding, uniting openly fearlessly, selflessly. My heart soars to experience these powerful images live through democracynow.org. Over these past couple weeks i realize how needful i am for these images of People, ordinary people coming together from all social classes fighting for human rights, for freedom, for a say in the way lives are being handled, treated, and stifled. I recognize immediately through the images of Egypt how the world is in need of ordinary people doing extrordinary things as a means of restoring hope to this mad world and the biased media that supports, encourages and makes money from its madness. I and many of us are tired of listening to the G8 summits with their billion dollar budgets to secure the safety of the welathy few while keeping out the voices that really count. Billion dollar budgets used to create fear based tactics against the very voices that need to be heard and accounted for and weaved into the main fabric of world economic, social and political decisons. The ordinary extrordinary people of Tunisia and now Egypt are proving to the world what the masses can do and i/we are plugged in.

I watch mesmerized by the courage and power of a young Egyptian woman prophesizing through her plea on a utube video (again shared on democracynow.org) days before people took to the streets begging her People to join her in Tahrir Square on January 25th and walk with her in solidarity, to stand up against an oppressive system, to be brave and to walk with her. “To do nothing” she says, “is to be guilty of supporting the present corrupt government that oppresses millions and millions of people.”Some report the utube video of this young courageous Arab woman was the spark that lit the fire for freedom in the streets of Cairo!

The revolutionary images of massive uprisings in the Arab world coincides with a clourful week here in Grenada as Grenada celebrates 37 years of independence. Red green and yellow splashed onto the streets, shops, liming stations, bus terminals, schools, homes, communities and People. Pride swelling in every colourful direction. I reflect on Grenada's own revolutionary period from 1979 to 1983, where solidarity of the people swelled in the streets, communities and homes. People from all social classes came together in hope and unity to fulfill the dreams of a People's Movement that focused on basic human rights such as education, health and women's equality. Unfortunately Grenada's revolutionary past turned into a past of disillusionment chaos and confusion. Violence, deception and abuse of power destroyed the fabric of these same dreams of justice for all. Hopes and ideals were extinguished when Maurice Bishop, the Father of Grenada's Revolution along with twelve of his party members were assasinated. They were ordered and put to death by another faction of the same revolutionary government. With the assasination and then the US invasion/intervention (depending who you are speaking to) social movements ceased and now the People's Revolution is remembered as an important piece of Grenada's history, a history that speaks of power in unity, power in the masses.

I dream of peaceful revolutions where people can move and demand together their rights for justice and peace without being slammed into by the few who benifit and feed off the oppressive structures that keep the masses poor and the powerful wealthy. I know it is difficult times side by side with images of hope. I know that Egypt, the Middle East and Afica are volatile places right now with violence rising and many people being murdered, jailed, tortured for expressing openly their beliefs. But i also know we cant give up in the global and local struggle for human rights and like the young brave Egytian women we must all be accountable to the injustices playing out not just in the countries who are spotlighted in the news but also the injustices happening in our own backyards. We must do what we can to educate ourselves on how we too can join the struggle and be activists for peace and justice by exploring, discovering and excercising our calling, our passions for peace. We must begin our own revolution even if it begins as simply as plugging into alternative media sources like DemocracyNow.org and listening to the diverse perspectives; perspective that matter most, perspectives of ordinary people doing exrordinary things, people like me and you who can make a difference!